Apparatus for producing gaseous fuels



Oct. 11`, 1932. c. A. RoslER APPARATUS FOR PODUCING GASEOUS FUELS Original- Filed May 26, 1926 CHARLES AfRosIER, onNEW YORK, n. i".

nrinaianrrns FoRrRoDUcInG yefnsrxons FUELS Y originar application inea May ze, 192e, serial No. 111,675. Divided aiidinis application maa :rima as, 1927.1

serial No. 200,855. i

` V'lhis inventionrelates to anv apparatus for producing 'highly combustible gaseous;

fuel from hydrocarbon oils and steam orair for use in--internal combustion engines, steam of a system for supplying gaseous fuel to an '5r boilers, tempering furnaces, andthe like.

One object of the invention is the provision of an improved apparatus of the character described forconverting fluids such as liquid fuelsyand steam or ain-into a heated gaseous i y; highly combustiblestate." i

Another objectof the'invention is the pro- A vision of an improved apparatus of the characterfdescribed for volatilizing a. liquid, fuel4 andseparately prehe ating' the fuelfconstit-4 31 uents whereby'they maybe readily combined combustible gaseous prod#A ioforimahighly uct.Yv`v y ,A further object of thevinventlon is to pro- Y vide anv improved apparatus. of thecharacterV 2 0.; described which forms a Vcompact unit that maybe readily installed and conveniently positionedin connection yWith .gaseous fuel consumers such as .engines, furnaces or the like. i Y

action for gasifying hydrocarbon vfuel joil whereby substantially eliminating carbon or other distillate'residues. i fk Y i A still further object of the invention is tolprovide anjapparatusof the character .dea

scribed, which shall vbe comparatively inex- N pensiverto manufacture, andpractical and 3 .reflicient inoperation to: a-high degree. Y l

Other obj ects of thisinvention Will in part be obvious and in part hereinafteripointed out. t i f The present is `ailivision of :'copending application, Serialv No. 111,675,

'filed in the United@ States Patent Ofliceon- Mayj26th,f192 6, and certain features dei scribed'land claimed in my 3o-pendingV application accordingly are not claimed herein. The invention accordingly consists vin the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of'parts WhichV Will be exemplified inthe construction hereinafter O described and oftvhich the scope of application Willbe indicated Vin the following claims.

- yto exposethe interior construction;

. portion 14 disposed therebelovv, 'the inlet end -of the portion 13 communicating With apor In the accompanying dravvingfin which shown one of the-variouspossible illustrative,

embodimentsofithis invention,

F1g. 1 1sa, d1agrammat1c v levv in elevation internal combustion engine embodying theproved .oil gasifying apparatus shown in Fig; 1, portions thereof being .broken yaway Fig. 2al is a rf-ra, mentary vieWinvertical' section showing a modified construction of the oil4 gasifying apparatus;

Fig. 31s. a crossssection'alview lines3-3 in Fig. 2; ,and i llig, 4c is afragmentary verticalsectional View of .thefimproved apparatus show-n ap! plied .to a furnace Wall. r a

Referring in detail tothe drawing, '10 denotes a. fragmentary portion of any form of taken on gaseous fuel consuming means, such as an in# ternal combustlon .engine having an y intake t y i pipelOa to'vvhichis attached theimproved oilA Afurther object of the invention is'topro-A vide an apparatus `of the character dea scribed,fimp roved means having a. catalytid gasifying device 11; .f

prises -a.1niXing, atomiZing Vand Qdispensing portion Vl'icon'nected tothe pipe 10a and an oil gasifying and fuel constituentpreheating" tion 14 through 'a passage15. V

The'portion 14' comprises a tubular member 16 havingan inner chamberdividedby a Vcentral tubular baffle -19 into two -compartmentsl? and 18 of:semiannular crosssecf {zionali-shape, said baffle having outwardly extending Vpartition portions 19a, the baille and partitionv portions being disposed to eX- tend longitudinally through. saidmember 16 Vas'shovvn in: Eigs.f2 and 3; The lower comooi partment 17isadapted'to receive liquid fuel,

with the outletside of a liquidV fuel control ceives liquid fuel'preferably under pressure through a pipe 25 supplied by'a. suitable feed pump 23 from a liquid 'fuelustorage tank 24,

(such as a hydrocarbon oil at the frontend-2Uy thereof through nipple 21'- Which connects i l" lhe'device 11 "as seen from 2 'come 75 valve 22. JvThe inlet 'side/of said valve 22 re- ,'lfhe valve 22 is operated in awell understood 100`"'y Y eo eoy dition ofthe valve stem 29a. To rform a more ecient gas mixture and for conditioning the v `oilgase's generated in the portions 14, suitable provided at its upper front end 18a with theV upwardly extending passage for leading the vvoil gases intotheinletside of a control and mixing valve 29 from which they emerge through an aperture 30 into amixing cham` ber A31. *Y The valve 29 controls theow ofth'e v)il gases in the usual manner through rotaamounts of a gaseous fuelconstituent, such as steam or compressed air are supplied through a pipe 32 into an annular passage 296 formed inv said valve, 29, said passage: having openings29c' through which the steam or air is injected into the chamber '31 so v'that an intimate mixture of the gasifled oil and steam :or airis obtained. Wherecompressedair is used as the fuel constituent, an installation as shown in l1`ig.1 may be employed. vHere the l' `air is .supplied by a suitablecompresser. 33j ,.to a supply tank 34, hence through a pipe '35 to an. inlet 36aadjacentthe rear end of a jacket 36 which surrounds the chamber compartments 17and 18 in portion 14 asisiclearly shown Fig.V 2l VFor controlling. the flow ...of air through the jacket 36., avalvle 37is inl'stalled in the' pipeline35, the frontor outlet 45. V""ing-througl-ifthe portion 14, any suitable heat source may be provided, preferably, as Vhere 36?). of the'v jacket being. connected directly. with-the pipe` 32,for Vsupplying air. tothe valve 29.

For preheating and gasifying the fuel .passshown, anelectrically operated heater .40.

Said heater is constructed to fit into; a lon-v gitudinallylextending' pocket 14a in portion "'14for heating the inner jacket wall 360 and v.

the wallsla, 17 b and 18, 18i of the chamberf compartments 17 and 18.V .'lhe jacket wall 36a is spaced vfrom the wall 17 avgand `18a'to permit'the vextension therethrough of aplu- Arality of heat resistant elements 41-of heater 40. Saidfelementsuare supported at each end by a suitable terminal member 42 lwhich .is-

mounted onan insulating base 43-thelatter forming aclosure -for'the pocket 14a`as is clearly; shown in ligs. k2 and 13'. *Suitable binding posts44gmay belprovided to extend through said basefor connecting said heater elements 41-in serieswith alsuitable control rlieostat' 45 across y ay suitable:- electric Vpower source (not'shown) through conductor wires 46.

Itisclear from the drawing that the heater when connected to the electric power source is eli'ective to supply the initial heat to the gasifying apparatus 11 for raising it to the required temperature to gasify and preheat the liquid fuel. The heater 40 may be' operated rto positively control the temperatures to which theliquid Vand vaporized fuel .in com- Apartments 17 and 18 are subjected during the gasifying and preheating process simultaneously with the preheating of the .airin the jacket 36 simply by adjusting the rheostat 45 to regulate the powersupply.

i A. dominant feature ofthe invention resides in the provision ofthebaflie-19 made of any suitable material having catalytic "properties" j i wheny heated, such as nickel, platinum, palla@ dium, copper, brass orother like substances.

As shown in Fig. 2,'the baiiie V19 is in the form i ofa. cylindrical tubular structure', onefend thereof abutting the front wall 14?) of the portion 14 and the other end thereof being sup.- ported by the rear end-wall 16a of the tubular j member 16'. The rear end of the axial passage 19o extending through the baliie communicates with the pocket 14a'l adjacent said wallf 16a-thereby providing a relatively large heating surface for the baiiieexposed toheat from theheater' 40 whereby the catalytic efectiveness of'said baflie is greatly increased.

` 'In ig.-2a is shown a modified form of the invention in which-a supplementary'electricj heater having terminal postsv 144 ispro-v vided, said posts being preferablyv connected inserie's with `a rheo'stat'145 to a suitable power'source (n'otshown) by conductor wires.; Said heater extends through the rear end wall 14'0'of the portion 14 "and into the axialp'assage 19o of the baffle 19 for independently. controlling `thel temperaturel and the catalyzing effectof said baffle.

The normal operation of the equipment? i above described is as follows: Liquid yfuel is fed underV pressure through the'valve'22 into .j

the gasifying apparatusll Vwhere itis volatil- Y ized, expanded and subjectedl to 4catalyticac-J tion'in the compartment 17, the lgases there- 11g from being Vpreheated further expanded and catalyzed in the 'compartment 18. The heated A gasied fuel passes from lthe compartment 18 through the passage 15 and the valve 29 into the chamber. 31 where. intimately mixed with the Vheated compressed air. comin.g throughthe pipe 32 from the jacket'36, prior to passingV through, distributing passages v39a j.

of an 'elongatednozzle 39 whichy extends .into the intake'pipe 10a as shown in Figj2.

The equipment described abovefmay have a tendency to loperate irregularly especiallyl under iiuctuatingload lof the'gas` utilizing apparatus; 'lhis undesirable tendency-is apparently due to the building upofa back presi' sure during the volatilization and expansion e ina-ny convenientu location in the feed pipe Vline 25, or as-shownfin Fig. 2 may be incorporated to form a part of the Vvalve 22.

Said device Risseen to include a vertically slidable member 60 having a valve disc `61 mounted on the upper endthereof, said disc beine' adaptedfto raise "against a seat 62 for shutting off the back iiow-of the liquid fuel due to any sudden fluctuation of load or for any other cause which is effective to increase 1 the pressure of the gassified fuel in the coinpartment 17 above the feeding pressure of the liquid fuel in the pipe 25.A 4Normally, the

discV 62is in the position shown in Fig. 2

Y 'which permits 'theflow'ofliquid fuel around the slidable member 60 and into the body of the valve 22.v i

- `The foregoing apparatusprovides ani etli-Y cientV means forcarryingout the process j claimed in my cio-pending application aforementioned and which briefly described con sist-s "in gasifying ,the oil, preheating same, and While 1n this preheated gaseous state,

Y combiningr it with the heated air under Apresl n V35.

Vsure without appreciably lowering the temperature of the mixture and further subjecting the -oil during the gasifying process'to a catalytic action which is effective to eliminate deposits of carbon residues inthe compartments 17 andAlS. This process iseasily and simply carried out by controlling the heating ofthe gasifying apparatus ll-and the valves 22, 29 and 37. The radiation heat losses may be greatly diminished by makingthe pine 32 as short as possible and providing suitable heat insulating laggings or coverings 65, 66, and 67 over the exterior surface of the Yapparatus 11, pipe 32and intake 10a, respec-j tively.

It will be noted that the hvdrocarbon oil is merely vaporized and gasiiied. and is not cracked or broken down due to the temperature control preventing chemical reaction during the` preheating and gasifyingprocess.

f the gasiiiedA oil being. furthermore in tin-iatelyv .mixed withal Igaseous fuelconstitue'nt without application of addition al heat, `thuspreventing chemical reaction between the lgasie replaced by a burner nozzle 18,9,.the latter being' mounted in'position in any suitable manner by a frame 70, oriiices 70a being prol` ed oil and the gaseous constituent durin the mixing process.

In Fig. 4 is shown an apparatus applied Vto a furnace wall Here, the nozzle39 is vided in said frame 7 0k for admitting air from the outside.l The air passing through Vsaid orifice may be regulated-iny anysuitablemanv n-erqforfsupplying any excess air that mayl V be needed during the operation of the burner, as by means of a ring Vor sleeve 71 having.-

Openings 71a which ring'may be operated vto Close-theoriices 70a. c

invention are achieved Y and Vwhich is well adapted' to meet vthe conditions Vof practical use.V 'w

. Itwill thus be seen` that thereris provided'- afdevice in which theseveral objects ofthis As various possible embodiments might.Av

be'madev ofthe above invention, and` als,vari

ous changes might be made linthe;embodi-;

ment Vabove set forth, it is to b e .understood that'jall matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing isfto Abe inten. Y preted as illustrative and notin a limiting A' .Y Having thus described'my invention, Il

i desire to secure-by Let'- claim as newand ters Patent seg 1. In an apparatus oftheV character described adapted to supply'a Vfuel formed with a liquid constituent, a gasifying device( comprising inner and outer tubular wallsy and a pair of apertured walls lnterconnect- `ing said tubular walls to form communicate' `ing compartments, means for heating-said' compartments, saidapertured walls being ad; it,

effective to catalyze'the constituent in 'said f compartments duringg'asiiication, and means for feeding the liquid constituent into one e of said compartments.-

2. In apparatus for producing gaseous fuel comprisingan oil gasifyingjdevice compris? ing aV tubular structure having a 'scent-ral e chamber, a jacket spaced from and extending about the wall of said chamber, and forming a pocket, an electrically operated heating chamber and jacket being adapted toloe heated by said heating means whereby oil injected into the chamber is gasified, and a is preheated, said jacket, pocket and chamber being independently separated from one another.

3. In' apparatus for producing gaseous fuel comprising, an oil gasifying device comf prising a tubular structure having a central chamber, a catalyzing member extending into said chamber, a jacket spaced from and extending about the Wall of said chamber, and 1 forming a pocket, an electrically operated means extending into said pocket between A the jacket and the wall of said chamber, said 11'0 gaseous vmedium flowing through said jacket j heating means extending into said pocket be-` tweenthe jacket and the wall of said cham- A l ber, said chamber andjacket being adapted to'jbe heated by said heating means whereby a hydrocarbon oil injected into the chamber is gasiiied, and a gaseous medium flowing Y through said jacket is preheated, said jacket, Y pocket and chamber being independently separated from one another. Y

Y fuel'comprisi'ng an ol'gasifyin'g device compisinge tubular structure havinga central Chamber,l a Vjacket' spaced from and extend-v ing about'the Wall "of 'sa-id? chamber, and ferr/ning a pocket, heating means extending' :intol said pocket between the'jacket and the Wa-llfofsaid chamber, said chamber and jack-'Q et being adapted t0 be heated by said heating if I;

'means whereby oil injected into said chamber is gzised, and a gaseous medium flowing through saidrjacket is preheated, seidjaeket, pek'et and chamber being independently separate frempne another.' e

Intefstimony `whereof:l Iraffx myA signature,A GHARLES A. ROSIER. 

